LoveNet
by Artemis1000
Summary: NagixOmi, hinted SchuldigxYohji Omi and Nagi meet in a chat room, befriend and fall in love even though they suspect the other’s identity. Damn, that sucks, the story is better than the summary.
1. Chapter 1

Author: Artemis (Artemis1000@gmx.net)   
Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz is among others owned by Project Weiss. I merely use the characters for enjoyment and earn no money with them. No copyright infringement intended. goldenflame.net, the chat room #7thPitchOfHell and the hotel Golden Palace are purely fictional. The Eroica quote I believe is from www.eroica.nu but I'm not sure   
Timeline: Alternate session two.   
Rating: PG-13   
Chapter: 1/?   
Pairings: NagixOmi, in later chapters bits of SchuxYohji   
Summary: Sometimes it's easier to pour your heart out to a stranger…   
Warnings: AU. A lot. If you like Kritiker and dislike the idea of Weiss as freelance assassins you probably shouldn't read this. Maybe OOC, that depends on how the story will evolve. I think you'll notice it's m/m slash soon enough. But is there any WK romance that isn't slash?   
Author's note: If you would like your ship in the fic, then write it in your review and I'll see if I can fit them in the story. But I can't promise anything, there are some characters I just can't write IC. I don't have a beta reader, so you read this at your own risk, if you get a headache from my mistakes (native German) don't blame me :-)   
Author's note 2: If you send me feedback you'll make me very happy.   


**Love@Net**   
**_By Artemis_**   


_Chapter 1_   


"Chibi, where are you?", bellowed Yohji through their apartment. He'd searched the whole apartment, every single room of the flower shop and his favourite spots, now he'd more or less given hope up. 

Omi rolled his eyes in exasperation and shouted back, "in my room, baka!" 

Yohji flung the door open, sat down on Omi's bed and winced as the door slammed noisily shut. "I'm no baka! Anyways, Aya sent me in search of you because he needed you down in the shop. But as the shop has closed… four minutes ago, I guess it isn't anymore necessary." 

"I'll ask him at dinner. You can leave now." He clicked on the small box telling him that the download of a song had been completed and opened his chat software. 

"Oh, is our little Chibi waiting for someone?", cooed Yohji gleefully. 

"No, I'm not, Yohji. I promised to meet with some hacker acquaintances tonight and help them to figure a new firewall out." Omi smiled sweetly. "But of course, if you offer your help so freely, who am I to deny it?" 

"Nope, I'll rather help Ken with cooking dinner." 

The redhead grinned to himself. Yohji had virtually fled the room as soon as he mentioned work, you only had to figure out how to handle him and then… Omi leafed through the list of chatrooms till he'd found one that appealed to him. 

-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: Ooi! Anyone here? 

Bombay: No? Alright then. Hell, why am I even talking to a vacant chat room? Maybe I'm just such desperate and at least an empty channel won't answer me with some stupid remarks, that I ought to get a girlfriend or my opinion really isn't relevant for the success of the mission and that I should stop whining and do my work… 

-- Prodigy has joined #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: Goodness, I'm such pathetic! 

Prodigy: *blinkblink* Pardon? 

Bombay: Sorry, I thought I was alone here and just felt like ranting… 

Prodigy: You were, I just joined a couple of seconds ago. You wanna tell another person why you think you're pathetic or continue ranting at the computer? :-) 

Bombay: That's nice, but I don't want to bother you with my problems. 

Prodigy: You don't have to be concerned about that, I've so many problems myself, a few more won't make much of a difference !:-t 

Bombay: Arigatou. You see, I'm living with three guardians, most of the time they're like brothers or older friends to me, but sometimes they're treating me like a kid, though they're only a couple of years older. Only recently I found out that my father isn't my father, I'm the son of my allegedly father's wife and his brother (and only shortly before I was reunited with them since I'd amnesia). My real father raised me without ever telling me the truth and he only cares about me as assets, an employee. To top it off my supposedly father and my real father were both killed, like my cousin, my uncle and the rest of my family. Or at least the ones I know and cared about, there may be still some other illegitimate children. 

Prodigy: Wow, that's hard. 

Bombay: Yeah, it is. 

Prodigy: Who killed your relatives? And what about your mother? Maybe she can still offer you a family. 

Bombay: That's another touchy topic and my common sense says me not to talk about it, but it's not as if there's anyone else I could tell this kind of stuff… The only neutral person, who'd have accepted me the way I am if I'd been able to tell her, that was my cousin, but she's also killed. 

Prodigy: You sure you even still want to belong to this family? You guys all seem to have a pretty short life expectancy. 

Bombay: Quite so! My real father was killed by my uncle – the one I thought to be my father – then one of my guardians killed my uncle cause his lackeys slaughtered his parents, my cousin was killed in a fight with the lackeys of my uncle, who'd kidnapped my cousin as decoy for my guardians and me. 

Prodigy: Who happened to the rest of you guys? 

Bombay: Several people, but mainly my guardians and me. 

Prodigy: Something tells me you're serious. 

Bombay: Because I am. 

Prodigy: That's good. 

Bombay: ??? 

Prodigy: Okay, that sounded weird. I meant, that's good because in this case the odds are that you won't totally freak out if I tell you about me. 

Bombay: You know, I just noticed that you're awfully cool about the whole thing. Most people would be running by this time screaming out of the room, calling the police or having left the chat room afraid that they'd met a psychopath. 

Prodigy: I'm not one to be easily scared/Then my own guardians would bump me off for attraction the police's attention/I'm living with one psychopath and two people who're so close before loosing it, I know a lunatic when I see one. 

Bombay: You know my life story and stuff that would get me in jail for the rest of my life and I don't even know how old you are :-) 

Prodigy: I'm 15, from Tokyo and part-time assassin. 

Bombay: 17, Tokyo, part-time assassin. 

Prodigy: You ought to be kidding! 

Bombay: I'm afraid not, though I would give a lot for a normal life 

Prodigy: Yep, you sound like you're telling me the truth. I wonder if we've ever met each other. There can't be that many assassin groups in Tokyo, now can there? 

Bombay: It's a big city and I never actually researched how many competitors we have, but I guess you're right. 

Prodigy: Will you tell me the name of your group? 

Bombay: Maybe after you told me more about yourself. 

Prodigy: Fine, have it your way, but my life story is much less interesting than yours. 

Bombay: Spill! 

Prodigy: My childhood was just as fucked up as yours. I was an outsider, neither my family nor my friends wanted anything to do with me because I was different. People fear strange things they can't understand and fear turns easily into hate… None of the other children so much as talked to me, maybe they thought I would rub off on them, maybe they're just afraid what their peers and parents would say, maybe they'd already adopted the beliefs of the adults, I don't know and don't give a damn anymore. 

Prodigy: I wanted so badly to escape my social background and the discrimination, so I did something very stupid. When weird people came who told me that they'd make sure I had a good life if I only occasionally showed them my gratitude with helping them, I believed them. My urge to get revenge on the world made me blind. At first they pretended that they cared, but as soon as they'd turned me into their perfect little killer they left me with other assassins who'd pose as my guardians – always on disposal to do their bidding. 

Bombay: I'm sorry for you. 

Prodigy: Don't be, if I'd stayed with my family my life would've most likely been worse. 

Bombay: No, really. I can understand fully how you feel. I also believed that my real father would care for me and give me a better life, that he'd saved me and not just got himself a new assassin trainee. But I found quickly out that he only wanted to turn me into his perfect assassin. Unfortunately he wasn't as good an instructor as he thought. 

Prodigy: You should be glad he didn't succeeded. They almost managed to erase the last traces of humanity in me and trust me, it's not a pleasant feeling. 

Bombay: It would make killing easier. 

Prodigy: Maybe. But do you find a life as a killing machine, a robot with a beating heart desirable? 

Bombay. Touché. 

Prodigy: g2g. Boss is home and he won't be pleased if he finds out about our little chitchat. 

Bombay: No problem, we'll anyway have dinner in a couple of minutes. Can we meet again? 

Prodigy: Tomorrow, same time, same place. Bye. 

Bombay. Bye. 

-- Prodigy has left #7thPitchOfHell 

-- Bombay has left #7thPitchOfHell   


Omi was still slightly shaken from the encounter with Prodigy as he logged out. 

He'd hoped for someone to talk to, someone who'd understand him at least a little bit, at the very least an opportunity to rant without his team mates forcing him into a straightjacket and calling the men in the white coats… 

But he'd gotten more than he'd bargained for and Omi wasn't sure whether that's good or bad. It'd be nice to be for once able to tell the truth. The only people from whom he hadn't to hide anything were the assassins of Weiß and Schwarz. The Weiß boys were much more than friends, they're the family he never had, but there were just some things you didn't talked about with your brothers. And as amusing as the mental picture was, he didn't thought Schwarz would react very well if he invited them to a heart-to-heart after a battle… 

So far the pros. The cons were obvious. He'd no idea who Prodigy was, it could be some kid wanting to make themselves seem more important than they were or to make fun of him, it could be a real assassin who's only interested in a friend, it could even be one of his least favourite colleagues, namely Schwarz… 

Omi felt a steadily growing headache making itself known and rubbed his temples tiredly. There was really only one way to find out who Prodigy was…   


At the other end of the city Naoe Nagi was thinking along the same line of thoughts. 

He'd saved the ip address of his chat friend and it shouldn't be hard to track him down. He only had to hack into his provider's database, find out whom they'd given the ip address at the time of their chat, then search for him in the databases of the Tokyo residents' registration office and what they'd been able to save of Estet's database and soon he'd know everything he wanted to know about the alleged assassin. 

Nagi expected no troubles, after all the other boy hadn't mentioned that he knew more about computers than how to operate them, it's unlikely that he'd taken any precautions to conceal himself…   


"Damn! Damn! Damn!", yelled Omi at no one in particular. 

He felt like kicking his own backside, he'd been such naïve! How could he have assumed that Prodigy would give their identity freely away? Well, he consoled himself, at least he knew now after three hours of unsuccessful attempts of tracing Prodigy's – very fake and for him useless - ip address back to a name that they were indeed who they claimed to be… 

The only persons who had the necessity and know-how for such paranoid security measures were elite hackers, terrorists and assassins. Neither a hacker nor a terrorist had any need to pretend that they're assassins, so it seemed like Omi's anonymous friend had told him the truth. 

Although he'd now his proof that Prodigy was an assassin, he wouldn't forgive them easily for making a fool of him – the worst thing was that Omi couldn't even take them to task for it. His only satisfaction was that Prodigy wouldn't find out more about him than Omi had about them. 

While he's still nursing his injured pride with Belgian chocolate, the redhead had to admit that he's intrigued in spite of himself. He knew already now that he'd go again into the chat room next night and hope that Prodigy came.   


-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

Prodigy: Finally, Bombay! I thought already you wouldn't come. 

Bombay: And I didn't thought you'd come. Did you got in any trouble with your boss last night? 

Prodigy: No, I logged out just in time. One of my friends always warns me when he comes back. 

Bombay: And how does your friend knows that? 

Prodigy: He has his ways. 

Bombay: I thought we'd be honest with each other. 

Prodigy: I'm honest with you about things that can get only myself into trouble. But I can't endanger the safety of my team mates just because I want to make friends, it wouldn't be fair. 

Bombay: Point taken. Please tell me something about yourself, I'm dying of curiosity. 

Prodigy: I'm a hacker and a pretty good one at that, for my assassin team I plan the hits, do the research, you could say I'm the brains of the group. People say I'm highly intelligent, but I for my part believe that many people my age could get the same test results if they would only take school seriously. Apart from that I'm your ordinary Japanese teenager. 

Bombay: Are you a boy or a girl? 

Prodigy: Boy. What about you? 

Bombay: Oh, there's nothing special about me either. I'm pretty good at school, but I think about the "highly intelligent" tag the same as you. I hate celery and ignorant adults who treat me like a kid, I love the internet, the great indoors and older people cause my life was just too different to feel comfortable around people who only care about parties and girls. Oh, and I have another part-time job beside slaughtering people, I work in a flower shop. 

Prodigy: Cool. If your employer ever needs a temporary help, then give them my e-mail address, I'm always in search of a job. It's not like I wouldn't earn enough money as assassin, rather in the contrary, but it's deadly boring to spend all your life studying, doing homework and planning assassinations. Usually I'm forbidden to get a job, but I mean, really, what can be dangerous about a flower shop?! 

Prodigy: I like spending time with my fellow assassins, although they've troubles accepting that I'm an equal member of the team instead of a little kid, they're the closest I have to a family. The second youngest member is like a brother, the two older ones like fathers – at least when they're in a good mood. I like to protect people and hate it when people don't do their job properly. 

Bombay: I wish I would have also a father figure, but the oldest one of us is only 24 and 99 percent of the time a playboy with a big trap, so he doesn't really qualifies for the parental substitute… *g* Time for a change of topic, we're spending already enough time being annoyed about our stupid team mates, we don't have to talk about them here as well. You mentioned something that made you different in the eyes of your neighbours and classmates, what did you meant? 

Prodigy: *smirk* That's a nice try, Bombay, but there's no need lying. I know that you're a hacker. Don't you think I would have "alarms" in case one of our enemies gets the very unhealthy idea to hack us, huh…? 

*Bombay eeps and hides 

Bombay: *fearfully* You haven't tracked me down, have you? 

Prodigy: Not yet. But if you continue to be this careless I'll succeed rather sooner than later. But please come back now, I'll even treat you to a cyber coke. 

*Bombay comes out of hiding, snatches the cyber coke out of Prodigy's hands. *g,d&r* 

*Prodigy chases after Bombay and tackles him 

Prodigy: *evilcackle* Hah! My cookie, all mine! 

Bombay: Gimme back! You promised it! 

Prodigy: I lied, what do you expect, I'm an evil assassin! *menacinglook* 

Bombay: *rotfl* 

Prodigy: *lol* 

Bombay: Goodness, Prodigy, I haven't had so much honest fun for a long time. :'-) 

Prodigy: Me neither. Daijoubo desu ka? 

Bombay: Daijoubo. I'm sorry for being so mushy, I don't know what's happening with me. Maybe the whole stress of the last weeks is just catching up with me… 

Prodigy: Please tell me more 

Bombay: My fathers died only last week, that's why I went to this chat room. I hoped for someone who'd just listen, someone whom I could tell about my problems without endangering the team and maybe even make a friend – and now that I've met you I know that it's a good idea 

Prodigy: *blush* You're giving me too much credit. 

Prodigy: I also went through difficult times, we had a permanent employer but he's killed now and we're… well, more or less unemployed. Nobody knows what will happen now, after all assassins can't go to the employment office and apply for unemployment compensation. We were his bodyguards and got rid of the people that got on his bad side, we could be sure that he'd get us out of jail, finance us and we'd still have a job the next day. We're all tense now and fear what the future may bring, especially me. Our leader is a good businessman with degrees and everything, but the rest of us needs the assassin job, we have no other profession and nowhere else to go – I also need them to stay my guardians or I'm doomed. 

Bombay: I can understand you fully 

Prodigy: It's nice of you to say that but you can't 

Bombay: But I can. You see, my real father was also our employer and none of us knows what's going to happen now. We're his executioners like you guys and now… maybe someone else in his organization will take command over, we have no idea. At first we considered closing down too, but then we realized that we have no homes to return to, no way to earn our living. With my father dead I have now absolutely no one but my friends, the youth welfare office will put me into an orphanage if they stop being my guardians. Our leader needs still more money than he can earn as florist, he has a relative requiring very expensive permanent medical treatment. Another of us was an athlete, but his career was ruined and he hoped to start anew as assassin. Only one of us could return more or less to his old life and he won't leave us behind. 

Prodigy: So you're now self-employed? 

Bombay: Yeah, pretty much. We really hope that we'll get very fast orders – we're quite successful but it seems to take some time till people find out we're looking for customers. The money is running low. We earn enough money in the shop to pay our costs of living, but we also have to pay the hospital, weapons, equipment… 

Prodigy: We met many people through our former employer and we're optimistic that we'll soon have missions. Hence if we get an order that we can't or won't accept I'll tell you, okay? I fear that's all the help I can offer you at the moment, we're also still learning how to survive as freelance assassins, it's a completely new feeling. 

Bombay: Arigatou, that means a lot to me 

Prodigy: My pleasure. I'm sorry, but it's bedtime for me now, we have to fly tomorrow to Korea for a meeting with a possible client and it won't do when I fall asleep in the middle of our interview, boss would kill me. 

Bombay: Good luck. 

Prodigy: We keep each other up-to-date and meet Sunday night again, okay? 

Bombay: I'm already looking forward to it. 

-- Bombay has left #7thPitchOfHell 

Prodigy: Me too, Bombay. 

-- Prodigy has left #7thPitchOfHell   


-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

-- Prodigy has joined #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: Hey Prodigy, how was the interview? 

*Prodigy makes a victory dance 

Prodigy: Yippy! We have our first client! 

Bombay: Congratulations, Prodigy, that's great! I'm so happy for you! 

Prodigy: How's your own job hunt going? 

Bombay: I think we'll have also soon a customer. In my mailbox were today a few offers. I can't thank you enough for that, Prodigy. 

Prodigy: You're welcome! 

Bombay: What do you wanna do tonight? Usually I would suggest that we go and celebrate, but as we're both sitting in front of laptops… ;-) 

Prodigy: How about we celebrate with some hacking? 

Bombay: Cool! What do you wanna hack? 

Prodigy: Any government? 

Bombay: I know it! A secret service! I'm sure we can find something interesting there that nobody is supposed to find ever out! *g* 

Prodigy: Who finds first compromising data about a random secret service head wins? 

Bombay: I'm game! 

Prodigy: Ready or not, here I come!   


/Schu, what was the name of that cute Weiß assassin again?/ 

/Are you talking about Balinese, Chibi?/ 

/No! Are you even capable of thinking about anyone who isn't Balinese? Goodness, you're having issues!/, sniggered Nagi. 

/I have no clue what you're talking about. And anyway, what do you want his name for? Planning to send flowers?!/ 

/If I get his name I'll be finished with the research in time for breakfast news, please, Schuldig!/ 

/What research?/ 

/Just give me the damn name or your so-called dinner could accidentally float itself into the wastebasket…!/ 

/Tsukiyono Omi?/ 

/Hai! Hai, Omi, that was his name! Thanks, Schu, I love you!/ 

/Uh… you aren't meaning that, are you, Chibi?/, Schuldig asked alarmed. 

Nagi giggled again. /No, of course not, silly!/ 

/What the heck has happened to make you so damn happy? You're almost acting like your age./ 

/You'll find out soon enough, Schu. Call me when you managed to cook something that doesn't has to be labelled with "toxic" or the delivery service brought my cheese pizza./ 

Nagi could hear from the kitchen German curses and a muttered, "who died and made you the god of cooking?!" He smiled inwardly before he turned back to the task at hand, which happened to be unmasking Bombay.   


Thanks to inhumane amounts of work in the flower shop, interviews with possible customers for Weiß and his teachers discovering a sadistic streak, Omi only managed to find Wednesday the identity of Prodigy out. 

He knew he shouldn't have met with the other boy again, only half an hour after he'd found out who he was, but he realized that he couldn't cut the contact off. In only a few days he'd become his best friend and closest familiar, this Prodigy, or should he rather say Naoe Nagi? 

And nonetheless it's a matter of course that Omi joined, almost automatically by now, the channel where he's supposed to meet his online friend and real life enemy this afternoon. 

-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: Hi! 

Bombay: Hello? Prodigy? Why are you so quiet? 

Bombay: Did I do something wrong? Because I'm sorry, even though I don't know what I did. 

Prodigy: Gomen, I'm just thinking. 

Bombay: 'bout what? 

Prodigy: A lot of things. You know, when we're still working for my former boss I'd to do a lot of things I never really wanted to do, at least not to the people I did them to. I wonder if they could forgive me if they knew why I did all these things. I still think that being an assassin isn't wrong and there are a lot of people who deserve to die, but some people I treated wrong. 

Bombay: What are you hinting at? Come on, Prodigy, I know you too well, you can't lie to me. 

Prodigy: That's one thing that scares me. You know me already now better than my team mates and we're for how long friends? A week maybe? 

Bombay: I don't see the problem. You also know me better than my team. 

Prodigy: What do you mean? 

Bombay: In front of them I've to pretend always that I'm happy because they don't need another gloomy brood boy – one of them is already more than we can bear - they require me to be the jester and heart of the team. When I'm with you I can just be myself, when I feel sad then I can show it to you and when I'm happy then I can show that to you too. I've told you things I've never told anyone else, things I was afraid to only think before I met you. 

*Prodigy gives Bombay a hug in spite of how unmanly he thinks that is 

Prodigy: I'm sorry for being such a weirdo. I just… 

Bombay: Yes? 

Prodigy: I guess I'm afraid of how you'll react when you find my identity out. I'm afraid that you'll go back to hating me then and that you'll use everything I told you against me. I doubt that I can still fight you, at the very least I don't want to and it would be paining me. I never before had a friend that I could've lost – my team mates are different, they have to be loyal to me or they would loose themselves also too much – and it scares me. I'm not used to having to handle such feelings. I just don't want to lose you, I guess. 

Bombay: I promise I won't betray you. And if it makes you feel more comfortable, you have the same power over me that I have over you. I also never had a best friend like you, and I realize now that you're my best friend even if we aren't friends for long, with you there is blind understanding, it's totally different than with the team. 

Prodigy: Gods, this has to sound terribly girlish… But will you stay my friend no matter what? 

Bombay: I promise, no matter what. Do you promise me the same? 

Prodigy: We're friends no matter what comes. 

Bombay: Please tell me now what made you think that I wouldn't want to be your friend any longer? 

Prodigy: Tuesday I killed again for the first time since… since my employer was killed. And it was like a Déjà vu. 

Bombay: Don't worry, I'll cheer you up 

Prodigy: Thanks. You always know the right thing to do, I wish my team mates would show the same sensibility. 

Bombay: Please accept my sincere condolences !:-t My team mates have also the sensitiveness of an elephant. 

Prodigy: I can't say how glad I am that I've now someone who really understands me. 

Bombay: Absolutely the same here. I believe I promised to cheer you up. You wanna hear some funny quotes I found today? 

Prodigy: Sure 

Bombay: Here's something that reminded me of my playboy team mate who's afraid of work like a vampire of sunlight: "Laziness is the inclination to relaxation without preceding work." 

Prodigy: *lol* I ought to tell that my boss, it fits perfectly to my own playboy team mate as well. He thinks he's so great and wonderful and though he's most of the time a decent bloke I'm often just fed up of his megalomania. 

Bombay: The same with mine. What about the other? I'm curious if they're also the same. 

Prodigy: He's a lunatic. 

Bombay: Mine's a sane soccer player. Here's another one: "the best way to keep your promises is to give none." "Our team loses never, even if the other team wins." 

Prodigy: *g* That's just like my boss. Or how about that: "an intelligent man has to be intelligent enough to employ people who're more intelligent than him." 

Bombay: *lol* I ought to tell that my leader, that'll make him so nicely angry! Or something from Eroica: "Silk scarves are appropriate for any occasion -- such as cocktail parties, or kidnapping the Pope..." 

Prodigy: Good one! 

Prodigy: I guess I shouldn't ask and I'll regret this, but would you like to help me with some research? 

Bombay: What research? 

Prodigy: I have to find informations about the visit of a British corporation CEO whom we're asked to kill. He'll visit from the 21st till the 28th and live in a hotel here in Tokyo, but we don't know yet in which hotel. If he wants a rival company then he just kills the major stockholders or owners and their competent heirs. Then the stockholders become nervous and he can buy the company dirt cheap. The only surviving heir of one victim company is our client, he asked us to be his bodyguards when he heard that we're now self-employed – he's living here in Japan where he has an own small company and hence was safe so far. 

Bombay: …and now you've found out that he'll visit Japan, most likely with his assassins to kill your client and complete the takeover, hence you have to assassinate him before he assassinates your client. Why are you doing this? I can't imagine that the head of a small company can pay you well. 

Prodigy: He can't. But we have to gain a reputation for ourselves and it's a challenge. Unfortunately I don't know if I'll manage the workload, so it would be nice to have someone who helps me a bit. We'll pay you once we get the salary. 

Bombay: You don't have to. 

Prodigy: But I want to. Do you want to think about it first? 

Bombay: No, of course that's not necessary, I'll gladly help a friend. 

Prodigy: Thanks, you're great! Oh fuck, boss calls me for a lecture. I'll send you the details later by e-mail. See you tomorrow. 

-- Prodigy has left #7thPitchOfHell   


"Omi? *Omi*? Hey Chibi, where are you hiding? Are you brooding again on that laptop of yours? You really should go outside sometimes, you know, you wouldn't even notice if the world ended, such a loner you are." 

Yohji checked every room Omi could be in their shared apartment, from his room over the living room to finally the kitchen. 

There he found indeed Omi, his head laying next to the laptop on the kitchen table, surrounded by scraps of paper, plates with sandwiches, half-empty delivery boxes sushi, pizza, French fries and hamburgers. 

The blonde wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Chibi? You better clean that mess you made fast, it looks really yucky and Aya won't be happy if he has to have breakfast in the middle of a heap of rubbish." 

Omi's only answer was a soft snore. 

"Hm…" Yohji fought an internal battle with his conscience. They're all wondering whom Omi was talking to all the time – and why he's suddenly so cheerful – but when they tried to take a peek at his files Weiß' youngest member's security systems turned out to be an insuperable hurdle for them. The laptop was now only on standby, one click and he'd solve the mystery… On the other hand Omi would skin him if he woke up and saw that Yohji was touching his baby… 

He clicked the space bar and prayed fervently to whatever gods would listen that this click didn't started anything he couldn't get under control again… 

The laptop hummed and buzzed to life, fans started to spin and the screen turned from black to a, for Yohji confusing, mess of Omi's new science-fiction wallpaper, icons and minimized windows. Since he'd no idea what the whole chaos meant he just maximized one window after the other, hoping that he wouldn't walk straight into a trap. "Now let's find out what you've been hiding from us, Chibi!" 

"Free Cell … Solitaire … whatever Registry Keys are …", a triumphant smile, "*aha*, here, we go!" The ICQ software held no juicy gossip, but the categories were interesting. Under "Hackers" Omi had listed maybe a dozen names, "Contacts and Resources" included another dozen nicknames. But at the top, under the category "Friends" was only one name listed, a Prodigy. There were only two windows left, one an e-mail and the other a chat software. First he checked the e-mail software, which held quite a surprise for him. 

_Subject: Re: Instructions_   
_Date: July 14th 99, 23:27:59 (+9)_   
_From: Bombay bombay@goldenflame.net_   
_To: Prodigy prodigy@goldenflame.net_

_Ooi Prodigy!_

_How is it going?_

_We got just a few minutes ago a call, we're hired for our first mission as freelance assassins! Our team will be paid from a rich tycoon heiress 2.000.000 yen for killing her cheating husband and his mistress. After we deduct the expenses it won't be a fortune, but sufficiently to pay the hospital bill for a quarter of a year. That's going to make our leader happy and when he's happy our lives will be a lot easier. I think self-employment isn't so bad after all… I really can't thank you enough for helping us so much, I don't know what we would've done without your help._

_I thought you'd perhaps be interested in my intermediate results:_

_I'm finished with hacking the company._

_I copied the electronic appointments book of your target, quite interesting, I can tell you so much already._

_They're really stupid, they saved the reports about their murders and takeovers on a server that's only protected from a ridiculous little firewall, you could think they'd be more interested in staying out of jail. Anyway, I copied some of these data for you, if your team thinks it's worth the effort we can hack them again and retrieve the rest of the files. The four of you can't slaughter the whole conspiracy, so maybe it'd be handy if the others spend the rest of their lives in jail._

_A reservation confirmation I've found as well, they'll live a luxury hotel downtown, Golden Palace. But don't worry, we assassinated someone there a couple of months ago and their security systems are just pitiable. Hack them and order for you and your friends security cards a week before the hit (it's such a big hotel, nobody will notice that you're no employee and if you chicken you can just add your names to the personnel files) then it's a walk in the park. Get an accreditation as room waiter, cleaner or chambermaid, they've the best ones for your uses._

_Now listen, Prodigy, I really don't want you to pay me. It's only a small hack, I have a flatrate and our former employer paid for the equipment. Besides, there's no one else I can ask to help me with research for a murder and it would be nice to have someone around who'll help me when I'm in a fix. And anyway, you've done already so much for me, for all of us, just think that we're now even._

_I'd love to write you more, but I better finish my part of the research now, I still have to do some studying cause we'll spend all spare time tomorrow planning the mission and I can feel my eyes beginning to droop._

_Bye_   
_Bombay_

_PS: The data I got till now I'm sending you as attachment._

_2nd PS: I'll meet you in chat again Friday, ne? I'm going to have only classes from nine till twelve, the flower shop closes earlier since Friday the school girls will rather go home than to unnerve us, so unless we have many deliveries I'm free for you early in the morning and in the night. Oh, know what, I'll just log into our chat room whenever I'm free, sometime we'll meet._

"Well isn't that interesting, our little Chibi has a girlfriend!", murmured Yohji gleefully. He knew all about "curiosity killed the cat", but he just couldn't help himself and checked hastily if Prodigy had already answered. 

_Subject: Re: Instructions_   
_Date: July 15th 99, 02:11:09 (+9)_   
_From: Prodigy prodigy@goldenflame.net_   
_To: Bombay bombay@goldenflame.net_

_Hey tom-cat! ;-)_

_Have you fallen asleep yet? I would love to see the faces of your team mates when they find you with your head on the keyboard and messages from a strange "online boyfriend" in your mailbox._

_Congratulations, I'm sure you and your guys will be great!_

_Thanks, Bombay, we all owe you, you did a wonderful job. And I'll head that advice about the hotel. You don't happen to have still some maps from the grounds and hotel, do you? I know I've to sound lazy, but it's just a difficult time. All the time two of us (and we're four like you) have to protect our client on the spot, and because I have school I barely find the time to sleep, let alone do the research. I tell you, that small payment isn't worth it, I wish we could afford to turn her down._

_I'm just peachy, inhumane amounts of work merely aren't my favourite kind of entertainment. Who the hell ever said that being an assassin is a way to earn fast and easily money?! Our boss is making us slave away, there is absolutely no mean thing he can't think of. Fucking bastard!_

_See you soon in our chat room_   
_Prodigy_

"Or maybe rather a boyfriend than girlfriend…" Yohji quickly pondered the risks of taking a look at the chat software as well, maybe Omi had kept a record of their conversations. But Omi was already waking up, the risk was just too high. With a regretful sigh the blonde returned the laptop to the state he'd found it in and fled the kitchen. 

To be continued…   



	2. Chapter 2

Author: Artemis (Artemis1000@gmx.net)   
Disclaimer: I don't know for sure who owns Weiss Kreuz, but I don't.   
Timeline: Alternate session two.   
Rating: PG-13   
Chapter: 2/?   
Pairings: NagixOmi, in later chapters bits of SchuxYohji   
Summary: Omi and Nagi get to know each other better   
Warnings: AU. A lot. If you like Kritiker and dislike the idea of Weiss as freelance assassins you probably shouldn't read this. Maybe OOC, that depends on how the story will evolve. I think you'll notice it's m/m slash soon enough. But is there any WK romance that isn't slash?   
Author's note: If you would like your ship in the fic, then write it in your review and I'll see if I can fit them in the story. But I can't promise anything, there are some characters I just can't write IC. I don't have a beta reader, so you read this at your own risk, if you get a headache from my mistakes (native German) don't blame me :-)   
Author's note 2: If you send me feedback you'll make me very happy.   


**Love@Net**   
**_By Artemis_**   


_Chapter 2_   


A month later both assassin groups were fully back in business. 

Unknown to them their respective youngest members had regular contact. In fact, they chatted and mailed each other daily by now, even when their missions led them out of Tokyo they stayed in touch thanks to their laptops.   


-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: Prodigy, I have some questions. 

Prodigy: Hi to you too, sunshine. I'll answer them if I can, but no promises… 

Bombay: Course. What's your name? 

Prodigy: You know it already. At the very least you'll have an idea who I am. But I don't want to ruin what we have. 

Bombay: Me neither. Yeah, I guess it's best when we leave things the way they are. You mentioned in our first conversation that your neighbours hated you because you're "different". Since we pretend not to know each other my next question is what you mean with that. 

Prodigy: I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about that. 

*Bombay is a bit hurt 

Bombay: Please? You know that I won't hate you for it 

Prodigy: Gomen, I don't intend to hurt your feelings, Bombay. But until now we were just two teenage assassins and hackers. If I tell you about this kind of stuff… I'll be another time the freak and you the normal one. 

Bombay: I believe we've established already that neither of us is completely normal. I had an unhappy life so far, you had an unhappy life so far, why not tell each other about "this kind of stuff" as well? 

Prodigy: You don't know what it means to have people hating you for something that you're born with, something you never wanted 

Bombay: Oh, I've experienced prejudices because of my heritage more often than you could believe. After all my new family is hating and fighting the family I was born into, the man I believed to be my father… 

Prodigy: I'm born with telekinetic powers. 

*Prodigy hides 

Bombay: Which I for my part think is pretty cool! I'd die for super powers, for being no longer an ordinary boy and in the eyes of my team mates the weakest link of the chain… 

Prodigy: As a psychic you can only be happy in the company of other psychics. Don't get me wrong, you can have one or two "normal" friends, but it's extremely hard to find people who neither become your friend in spite of nor for your super powers. Most people see in you freaks, lab rats and weapons, they don't even consider that these "animals" just maybe happen to have feelings just like them. :-c You have no idea how much it hurts. So at some point you'll just be tired of all the rejections, prejudices, hate and fear and you stop trying to befriend with normal people. Only by chance you can make still human friends, like we did. And I doubt that you'd have met with me a second time if I'd told you from the beginning what I am. 

Bombay: :-&

Bombay: I'm so sorry for what you'd to go through, I never knew! I promise I won't ever treat you like this! 

Prodigy: Not your fault, tom-cat. 

Bombay: imho these people are total bastards and they don't deserve you as friend. Nobody should've treated you like that, it's just plain wrong. When did it start? 

Prodigy: When I was still a kid, hadn't had any training, it's near impossible to hide my abilities. For example if my glass fell from the table and I wanted it not to ruin the carpet it wouldn't, if I didn't wanted another kid to fall they would float back into a standing position. The other kids beat me pretty often up and then I just wanted them to be hurt twice as badly as they hurt me. It worked. 

Bombay: And…? 

Prodigy: And though they didn't had many brain cells at their disposal they learned at some point. Some would mock me till I'd exhausted myself and then the rest would come to beat me up. I was at that point too tired to defend myself with telekinesis. 

Bombay: That's awful! I'm really sorry, I should've never brought this topic up, but I didn't knew that it would tear so many wounds open. 

Prodigy: You couldn't have possibly known. And besides, talking about your problems is supposed to help, isn't it? Frankly, you're the only person I can talk to about my past. If I talk with my team mates, we only end all up wallowing in self-pity and feel afterwards even worse than before. 

Bombay: I wish I could change your past. 

Prodigy: Nobody can, I've come to terms with it. Humanity just isn't a very tolerant race. I have to admit, though, that it made me crack a bit 

Bombay: *g* 

Prodigy: No kidding! I want take revenge on the world and I couldn't care less about how I hurt my victims, they wouldn't have shown me any mercy either and at least it's a way to survive. 

Bombay: I can understand. 

Prodigy: You won't tell me to go and see a psychiatrist? 

Bombay: *chuckles* No, I won't. Since you're such honest with me I guess you deserve that I tell you the full truth. 

Prodigy: !:-t So you did decide that you don't want anything to do with me after all. I didn't expected anything else. 

Bombay: Damn you, Prodigy, why are you always assuming the worst?! 

Prodigy: Because nobody ever gave me a reason not to! Fuck you, Bombay! 

Bombay: Stop it, Prodigy! I won't let you provoke me just so you can have your opinion about mankind once again confirmed. It's terribly what happened to you in the past but you must understand that I don't plan to treat you that way. I want to be your friend and you have to do a bit more than to irritate me to make my determination waver! 

Bombay: BTW, I promised you I'd tell you something. First another question. 

Prodigy: *scowls* What, are we playing 20 questions tonight and why didn't anyone told me?! 

Bombay: Give up already, it won't work because I have to endure daily much worse. Are you homophobic? 

Prodigy: *laughs* Hello, I'm not even human, what do you think? 

Bombay: That's what I don't know. Your inner workings are still a mystery to me. 

Prodigy: Silly, of course not. I belong myself to a minority, I'd to be a big hypocrite to have prejudices against other minorities. 

Bombay: Good, cause I've fallen in love with you. Suku da, Prodigy. 

Prodigy: You shouldn't be making jokes about such serious things, Bombay. 

Bombay: I'm not kidding. 

*Bombay looks fearfully at Prodigy and blushes 

Prodigy: Are you really meaning that? 

Bombay. Yeah, of course, otherwise I wouldn't risk that you break our contact off! 

Bombay: Wait, don't answer, just forget that I ever said anything! 

Prodigy: *blush* Suku da, Bombay-chan. 

Bombay: No kidding? 

Prodigy: No kidding! 

Bombay: I never dared to hope that you would return my feelings 

Prodigy: So did I. Goodness, tom-cat, how I wish we could meet in real life… 

Bombay: Me too, but we can't. 

Prodigy: I know, still it's nice to daydream. 

Prodigy: Gods, I have to sound so girlish! 

Bombay. Don't worry, you can't take people to account who're in love. 

Prodigy: I only hope that I'll never have to face you on the battlefield. I don't think that I would be capable of really hurting you. 

Bombay: A bit of sparring would be fun because at least then we could meet in real life, but more I couldn't bear. I could never forgive myself if you're hurt. 

Prodigy: I don't think you would get an opportunity to hurt me seriously, tom-cat, seeing as I have telekinesis and you not…! ;-)) 

* Bombay pokes Progeny in the side and sticks his tongue out at him 

Prodigy: *rotfl* You're being soooo mature, Bombay! 

Bombay: Because I'm older than you! 

Prodigy: Ow, that's below the belt! 

Bombay: It's supposed to! 

Prodigy: *g* I didn't thought you could be so evil, tom-cat! I'm having a whole world of new respect for you! 

Bombay: You bet! ;-)   


-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: *sigh* I'm missing you so badly, Prodigy. 

Prodigy: You don't even know me in RL. But I'm also missing you. I wish I could see you, I wish I could at least listen to your voice now and then. 

Bombay: Who knows? Maybe you do every so often and just don't know it's me? 

Prodigy: Trust me, I would know. 

Bombay: Are you sure we can't meet at all, only once? I mean, no one would have to find out and we could meet at some neutral place, like a restaurant or a park. It drives me crazy to know that you're in the same city and I can't even call you. 

Prodigy: You know that we wouldn't leave it at one meeting. Once we've met we'll want to meet again even more and sooner or later someone will find out. It's already now a dangerous game, one of my friends is a telepath and the other really good with divination, I wouldn't be surprised if they're keeping me under constant surveillance and know already everything there is to know about us. 

Bombay: That doesn't makes it any easier. 

Prodigy: At least you don't have to shield your thoughts all the time… 

Bombay: Oops, my boss is coming. Love you! 

-- Bombay has left #7thPitchOfHell 

-- Prodigy has left #7thPitchOfHell 

to be continued 


	3. Chapter 3

Author: Artemis (Artemis1000@gmx.net)   
Disclaimer: I don't know for sure who owns Weiss Kreuz, but I don't.   
Timeline: Alternate session two.   
Rating: PG-13   
Chapter: 3/?   
Pairings: NagixOmi, in later chapters bits of SchuxYohji   
Summary: The teams become suspicious and Nagi has two special birthday gifts for Omi   
Warnings: AU. A lot. If you like Kritiker and dislike the idea of Weiss as freelance assassins you probably shouldn't read this. Maybe OOC, that depends on how the story will evolve. I think you'll notice it's m/m slash soon enough. But is there any WK romance that isn't slash?   
Author's note: If you would like your ship in the fic, then write it in your review and I'll see if I can fit them in the story. But I can't promise anything, there are some characters I just can't write IC. I don't have a beta reader, so you read this at your own risk, if you get a headache from my mistakes (native German) don't blame me :-)   
Author's note 2: If you send me feedback you'll make me very happy.   


**Love@Net**   
**_By Artemis_**   
__

_Chapter 3_   


Ken shrugged and turned to his best friend. "Whatcha think, Omi? Isn't it weird that we haven't had any confrontation with Schwarz since Aya killed Takatori Reiji? I mean, usually they made our lives at least once a month a living hell and now you could almost believe that they're avoiding us…" 

But Omi was too lost in thoughts to hear his friend, mechanically braiding an Adventskranz for the German embassy and decorating it. He's thinking about Prodigy and about their last meeting in chat. Prodigy had told him that he's afraid his telepathic friend had found out about them, after all the other psychic was older and more experienced, he couldn't keep his mind shielded when he's asleep. Although Nagi had never given secrets of Schwarz away Omi was worried for him. They'd deemed Ouka as worth little enough to be sacrificed, so why not Nagi as well…? He's the brains of Schwarz and Bombay doubted that they'd get very far without him, now that they weren't anymore provided with replacement by Takatori, but some anxiety remained. 

"Omi, hey, are you even here?" Ken shook him roughly on the shoulder, which had become in the past months the only way to shake Omi out of his daydreams. 

He placed four red candles onto the wreath of conifer twigs and red ribbons. "I was lost in thoughts, gomen." 

Yohji flashed him a predatory smirk. "We noticed. Hell, you can practically notice the love vibes you're radiating." 

"And now let me focus on my work again or I'll never get this done." 

"Got you! You're in a hurry because you're supposed to meet your date soon!" 

"If you call a brainstorming in the chat room date, then yes." 

"Depends on what's the topic of your brainstorming." 

Omi's patience was wearing thin today. "*Yohji, just drop it*", he ground out in a tense voice. Maybe too tense for what his friends were used to from him because he felt suddenly three pairs of eyes on him. 

"Never! Oh come on, Chibi, you can tell us!" 

"Yeah, sure, the day hell freezes over!", snapped Omi. He knew he shouldn't be this defensive around his own friends, it was unfair and made them only more suspicious, but he couldn't help himself. He's now for three months with Nagi, for four months they're friends, and he'd gotten as protective about him as the telekinetic was about him. His friends wouldn't be capable of keeping their traps shut the next time they crossed Schwarz's way and then Nagi would be in even bigger trouble than himself. 

But Balinese wasn't about to get scared so easily. Omi's aggressiveness only encouraged him furthermore. He hadn't been such a good sleuth for nothing… "So I was right!" 

"Yohji…!" 

"Come on, you can really tell us. I mean, who could be so bad that you have to keep it a secret from your friends?" 

Omi could virtually see the light bulb going on over Yohji's head and was already pondering whether a wood or metal coffin would look better on him. 

"Please tell me it's no one from Schreient!", begged the blond assassin. 

Bombay breathed inwardly a sigh of relief. "*No*, of course *not*, how do you get that stupid idea? Schreient, really, Yohji!" 

A horde of giggling school girls burst through the doors and Omi greeted them with honest enthusiasm. At least when they're around he couldn't be bugged about Nagi. 

His main torturer also had to admit that and whispered, "don't believe that I'm through with you, sooner or later I'm going to find out who your mystery lover is!"   


"Nagi, could you *kindly* interrupt your daydream for the time of our conference?", snapped Crawford. 

"Gomen. What did you said?" 

"You have to become more attentive, Nagi, sooner or later you'll be caught by surprise and injured badly, maybe even killed", warned Schuldig his young friend. Truth was he'd been worried about the boy. Already since July Nagi was totally changed. Suddenly he'd become more open and if the telekinetic hadn't been an assassin he'd have even gone so far as to call him kind and friendly. The only thing Nagi sternly refused to talk about – and shielded very well from him – was who'd caused this change. 

"I'm concentrated on missions." 

"Na klar, and on our last hit an enemy just almost killed you without you noticing a thing." 

"Gomen, that won't happen again. Please understand, this are difficult times for me, private problems and such…" The moment the words left his mouth Nagi regretted them, but he's painfully aware that it's already too late to take them back. 

"Yes, I suspected that. Why don't you just tell us what's going on, Nagi? Or is this person someone you have to be ashamed of?", challenged Crawford. 

If you'd only know, Nagi thought bitterly. Loving Omi was even worse than loving Tot, at least he'd been allowed to meet with her. Determined not to raise to the bait said the dark-haired boy, "I don't have to be ashamed of anyone because there is no one in my life. By the way, Schuldig, can I learn to talk to people who're not capable of telepathic talking? Because it's uncomfortable when I always have to send you a message so that you can tell it Farfarello." 

So his lover was an ordinary person. Damn. This only reduced the possible people to 20 millions… "Usually telekinetics are barely capable of talking to telepaths on their own, but you also learned to shield your mind within a couple of days… if there's anyone who can learn it then you." 

"I'd be very grateful if you would teach me." 

"You're welcome." 

"Thanks." 

"You know, there is still a mission we have to discuss! Since you, Nagi and Schuldig, are so talkative today you can ask around in the objective's favourite haunts."   


-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: I don't have much time as we have a hit in half an hour, but I wanted to see you at least for a few minutes. 

Prodigy: Ooi sunshine! I'm glad you did, I would've been worried if you hadn't come tonight. 

Bombay: I'm not totally incapable, you know?! 

Prodigy: Yeah, but your darts and arrows can be reflected by a telekinetic and I don't want you to be hurt, that's all. I'm a telekinetic, Bombay, I know how helpless opponents without super powers can easily become. Btw, do you like cats and would you like to have one? 

Bombay: What a question is that? Of course I love cats and I always wanted to have my own! :-) 

Prodigy: Good 

Bombay: What do you have in mind? 

Prodigy: You'll see.   


It's Omi's birthday. 

And the most depressing one since he'd joined Weiß. 

His friends did everything to cheer him up, they even closed the flower shop earlier this Tuesday so they could spend more time together, made a party for him. But Omi just wasn't capable to be happy when the person he loved, the one he wanted most to be here, couldn't come. 

Only all four years he could celebrate birthday at the right day as he's born on February the 29th, that made it even more depressing that Nagi couldn't come. His boyfriend already hadn't been able to celebrate Christmas and the New Year's Days with him, now he wouldn't be present at his birthday either… 

Omi pulled an old black sweatshirt that he liked to wear in the flower shop over. He groaned as he heard the door being opened, he couldn't stand a third try of Yohji to find the name of his boyfriend out today. "Go away, I'll be downstairs in a minute", he wanted to say. But out came only hacked, muffled sounds from under the shirt. 

A nonplussed Yohji sat down on his bed. "How does it feels to be 18, Chibi?" 

Of course, what had he expected…? "It's cool. What do you want, Yohji, don't deny it, I can see that glint in your eyes!" 

"I thought we should have a guy talk. Me being the oldest and you being the youngest of us…", teased Balinese. 

"Which can also be translated with, "tell me his name"!", dead-paned Omi unfazed and plopped next to his team mate down on the bed. 

Yohji looked at him like a poster boy for angelic innocence. "Would I ever do such a thing?", he asked melodramatically. 

"Hai." 

"Okay, okay." The playboy raised his hands in surrender. "I'll make you a deal: if I try to find the name of your boyfriend out you can instantly kick me out." 

Omi wanted to note that he didn't needed Yohji's approval to throw him headfirst out of the room. But then again he'd never do that and the deal was most likely the easiest way to get rid of him. "Okay." 

"I know how you feel, really, my parents hated Askua with a passion and so we also had to celebrate all holidays alone. No matter how hard my friends and family tried to make me feel happy, I always could only think how it would be if she's present. Tell me, do you love him?" 

The redhead nodded abashed. "Hai, I love him. I love him very much. Before we got to know each other I wouldn't have ever thought we could become friends, let alone lovers, but now I love him more than anything else in the world. Well, I guess you guys are on the same level as him, but in a different way. I love him so much, it hurts that we can't see each other." 

"But how do you keep in touch then?" 

"E-Mail and chat." 

"Where does he lives? Maybe you could visit him in the summer vacation, or he visits us." 

Bombay shook his head ruefully, "if it would be only that… The tragic thing is that he's living here in Tokyo and we still can't see each other. It would be too dangerous. If someone finds out that we love each other we'd both have to pay dearly, he most likely even more than me and as much as I want to spend time with him I can't risk his life." 

Yohji's eyes widened as realization hit him. In a moment everything fell into place. The endless hours Omi spent on his computer, that he's so stubborn about not giving his boyfriend's name again, the secretiveness… and he remembered the e-mail exchange with Prodigy he'd looked at last year… "It makes sense, I understand. I'll help you to keep it a secret." 

"Thanks, thank you very much." 

"Let's go, if we extend lunch break and Aya finds out he'll give us hell again." Yohji cursed silently Aya for keeping them on such a close leash in the past months. He understood that they needed the money, now that they're self-employed assassins, but the fan girls loved them, they wouldn't go to another shop just because he's sometimes a tiny bit late – and they anyway didn't bought anything. 

Omi nodded in agreement and followed Yohji out of his room. "You're right." 

They hurried down to the flower shop. There're only two minutes left to prepare the shop and like so often Yohji had been too lazy to clean before he vanished for his break.   


Nagi carried the basket till he stood only a stone's throw away from Kitty in the House. It's impossible to get any closer, that would be suicidal. 

He put the large basket down and channelled his energy on it. Slowly it floated over the street to the flower shop. 

He'd made already sure that neither would his boyfriend be disturbed nor anyone see him with a convenient diversion because of road works. Of course, there wouldn't have to be any road works if he hadn't destroyed the road surface last night… 

He watched how the basket landed softly in front of the store's door. One movement of his hand, the door swung open and the basket floated inside. Once it's safely inside the shop Nagi closed the door again telekinetically. 

"Happy birthday, Omi."   


The plain basket immediately caught the eyes of both Weiß assassins. 

While Yohji drew a gun and searched for an attacker, Omi knew immediately that only one person could be responsible. He ran to the door and unlocked it with trembling fingers as fast as he could. 

Omi searched frantically for the slight figure of his boyfriend, not sure if he's even still here, if he even wanted Omi to see him. 

But it took him only a moment to make the young man out who stood on the other side of the street. Dark strands of hair concealed most of his face, still Omi had no doubt that it's Naoe Nagi. What he knew already was confirmed beyond doubt as a single red rose floated through the air to him. And just before Nagi turned around… 

…he could've sworn he'd seen a smile on his face. 

Bombay caught the rose easily and returned the smile. 

"*Wow*!" Yohji gasped in amazement and stared with wide eyes at the contents of the basket. "Omi, you have to take a look at this!" 

"Hai, Yohji!" Omi kneeled down next to his friend and soon his own face mirrored the other man's. 

A tiny black kitten, they recognized it as a Bombay kitten, sat in a bed of blankets in the basket. 

Since Yohji had already taken the kitten into his arms, Bombay inspected the other contents. There were a bunch of freesias, a guide to cats and a nondescript envelope in the basket. 

_Happy birthday, Omi!___

_I can't be with you, I can't even call you by your real name, so I've found someone who would like to keep you company. I hope you like my gift, your very own Bombay tom-cat.___

_I wish you only the best.___

_Love,_   
_Nagi_

"Nagi", Omi whispered. 

Yohji smiled and pretended that he hadn't heard which name Omi had said so affectionately. It figured, Schuldig and Crawford were too old, Farfarello too insane. Still it's nice to know who had stolen Omi's heart – and whom he'd have to slaughter if he hurt his Chibi. "Why don't you take cat-Bombay, you're better with animals than me?" 

Careful not to hurt the tiny kitten, Omi accepted it from Yohji. "Now how should we name you, huh, little one? Do you have any idea, Yohji?" 

"Uh… are they a boy or a girl?" 

"Boy. And don't tell me you haven't read the letter already." 

"Scampi? Scooby Doo? Mickey Mouse? Spider? Ares? Elvis? Bandit? Admiral? Shamrock? Flower? Shortcake? Adonis? Rowdy? Sake? Amadeus? Gremlin? Spaghetti? Yummy? Zorro? Banshee?" Yohji was running out of names and just said the first thing that came to his mind. "Moongoose?" Balinese graciously ignored the sputtering laughter coming from Omi. "Okay, my last suggestion: black angel?" 

"That's it? That is it!" 

"Which one?" 

"Black Angel! We'll call him angel!", Omi decided excited. 

"A boy? Are you sure?" 

"Well, at least it's better than shortcake and gremlin, isn't it?" 

"Well … yes, I guess."   


-- Now talking in #7thPitchOfHell 

Bombay: You here hidden, Prodigy? 

-- Prodigy has entered #7thPitchOfHell 

Prodigy: Happy birthday Bombay! 

Bombay: *blushes* Arigatou, koi. Your gift is just wonderful, you made me so happy! 

-- Prodigy blushes bright red and ducks his head 

Prodigy: I'm glad you approve. When I read the ad in the newspaper about Bombay kittens whom the breeder had to give away I couldn't help myself. I always liked irony and it's just so ironic that an enemy would give a man with the nickname Bombay a Bombay cat. 

Bombay: And the irony doesn't ends there. I called the kitten Black Angel. 

Prodigy: *lol* You ought to be kidding! 

Bombay: Nope! *g* 

Prodigy: How did your friends react? 

Bombay: They like Angel. And by the way, my playboy friend has now a pretty good idea about us. I couldn't hold the masquerade up any long and I told him a bit, no details though, and he's around when you gave me my gift. But he promised that he won't tell anyone and while he's chasing after everything with skirt or pants he'd never break his word. 

Prodigy: Fine then. But you can tell him that if he gets me into any trouble I'll skin him alive and feed him to Angel. 

Bombay: I'll rather not. 

Prodigy: Thought so :-) Goodness, I wanted to be with you today so badly, tom-cat, but there was just no way. I couldn't give my friends even more reasons for suspicions and the whole kitten thing aroused already enough of them. I'm so desperate, I'm tempted to get my group to battle with yours just so that I can see you again 

Bombay: But then we'd have to fight against each other 

Prodigy: At least if we're fighting we have an opportunity to see and touch each other. Today I saw you for the first time since last year summer and only now that I saw you again I realized the full impact of how much I miss to have personal contact to you. 

Bombay: You're writing exactly what I feel. Don't worry, we'll meet again soon, we're going to find a way somehow. I'm even willing to take the risk of discovery by now, if we do it clever we can at least manage one or two meetings without getting ourselves executed for treason. I'm sure that my friend will help us if I annoy him long enough. 

Prodigy: When a year is over we'll arrange a meeting, okay? I want to keep you safe as long as possible but I guess by July we'll anyway be beyond caring. 

Bombay: Quite. 

Prodigy: Oh, I almost forgot, I have another birthday present for you. 

-- Bombay bounces excitedly on his seat 

Bombay: What is it, what is it??? 

Prodigy: *g* We don't need any longer laptops. 

Bombay: You've lost me. 

Prodigy: The easiest way to explain you is to show you… Just promise me you won't scream and panic.   


Nagi was lounging comfortably on his bed, his back prodded against the headboard and the laptop in his lap. 

Now the telekinetic let the computer slip from his lap and concentrated fully on Omi. He double-checked every step of the connection as by no way could Schuldig, let alone Crawford find out about this. In his most seductive voice he purred, /hello again, my tom-cat./ 

He giggled as he felt through the telepathic connection Omi at first jump, then tense and finally scratch his head in puzzlement. /You know, you just have to think something really hard and then I'll get it. No, Bombay, you haven't gone stark raving mad, this is really happening./ Another giggle upon overhearing that Omi wondered whether he's Schu. /I'm disappointed, Bombay, very disappointed. Is there someone cheating on me, huh…?/, he teased. 

/*No! Of course not*!/, shouted Omi. 

Prodigy winced at the sheer volume. He'd forgotten that telepathic shouting reverberated so much more than vocal shouting. /You don't have to think it quite that hard. Now, is that cool or cool?/ 

/Where are you?/ 

/In my room./ 

/But how…? Why…?/ 

/Well, I asked my telepathic friend a few weeks ago if I could learn to talk telepathically to non-telepaths over a large distance and he agreed to train me. But because I wasn't sure whether I would actually manage it and I didn't wanted you to be disappointed I kept it a secret so far. I wanted to be able to do it well enough to impress you./ 

/You're so cute!/ 

/Yeah, that's me, cuteness personified/, chuckled Nagi. The dark-haired boy used the established link to dig deeper into Omi's mind and sate his curiosity as good as he could with his very limited telepathic talents. There was so much he'd always wanted to know and now that he finally had the chance to get his answers he wouldn't miss it. 

The redhead squirmed under the mental scrutiny uncomfortably, not knowing what he should be thinking about it. /You never mentioned that you're a telepath as well./ 

/I'm not really, Bombay. I just need telepathy to link us since I can't channel my power right and safe over such large distances. It's really complicated, I don't understand it fully either and don't feel like explaining it right now, maybe another time./ 

/Does that now mean we can always talk?/ 

/Yes and no. I'm no telepath, tom-cat, this doesn't comes naturally to me. So it takes a lot of concentration and energy, especially over such a large distance./ 

/That doesn't makes much sense to me. But then I studied only telekinesis, guess I'll have to learn more than the basics about telepathy as well./ 

/You studied telekinesis?/, echoed Nagi amazed. 

/Of course. At first I did it only because I wanted to learn about my enemies, their strength and weaknesses, how we could trick them. When we befriended I studied particularly about telekinetics because I wanted to understand better what and who you are. I think I could be now a leading expert on psychics./ 

/Then I guess I'll have to prepare for a hell of a beating if we ever face off again/, Nagi admitted with wry amusement. He'd no illusions, if someone knew the weaknesses of a telekinetic and was cold-blooded enough to use them when looking literally into the face of death, then he didn't stood a chance – and if anyone qualified for this, then it's Omi. The older boy loved him, but he wasn't sure whom Omi would pick if he's forced to choose between his loyalties for Weiß – his brothers-in-arms, his friends, his family – and Nagi – "only" his best friend and lover. 

/You shouldn't rely on your supernatural abilities, Prodigy, it's dangerous. One day you'll have to battle a telekinetic more powerful than you or another stronger creature. It can't hurt to be able to do without telekinesis./ 

/You'll teach me that dart throwing?/ 

Omi smiled cockily. /Maybe./ 

/You're overestimating yourself, kitty-cat./ 

/Maybe./ 

Nagi rolled his eyes, suppressed his smile and remembered then that Omi couldn't see his face but still feel his amusement. Damn, he cursed silently. And remembered that Omi could hear that as well. The telekinetic groaned in exasperation. Naoe threw a piece of chocolate telekinetically into the air and caught it easily with his mouth. /We have to quit, I'm not all that good with blocking my thoughts while I have a telepathic conversation and the longer we talk the more likely it is that my friends notice it…/ 

/So we still have to converse most of the time by chat and e-mail? I hoped we could stay always like that./ 

/We can't rely fully on supernatural means of communication, didn't you just told me the same? And besides, as much as I would like to hear your voice all the time, feel your mental presence always in my mind, there are many things speaking against it. For once, both of our friends are by now tolerating that we are spending hours on end in front of our laptops, particularly yours will become suspicious if you're all the time lost in thoughts without reason or cause. Also, we'd find out things about the other's team we aren't supposed to find out./ 

Omi heaved a gloomy sigh and scratched Black Angel distractedly behind his ear. /Of course you're right. I just wish things could be different between us./ Why couldn't Nagi be a member of Weiß, the redhead wondered longingly, but didn't "thought aloud" since he didn't wanted to hurt the feelings of his dark-haired psi boyfriend. 

But Nagi caught the thought nonetheless. And immediately went into a defensive mood, automatically assuming a rejection. /Why aren't you Schwarz?!/ 

/Because Takatori … my stepfather only wanted bodyguards with supernatural abilities, because I was at the time he recruited being trained by my real father who never had a single ounce of love for me as his very own assassin and pawn in their damn catfight, because he intended Schwarz to put his evil plans into action, take your pick./ 

A part of his mind noted idle that he should've been more angry with Nagi, but Omi was too tired for that. He's tired of fighting with Nagi, his obsessive distrust and fear of rejection, he's tired of hiding his relationship from his friends and lying to the people he called his family, he's tired of fighting the inner demons Weiß' showdown with Takatori Reiji had summoned. 

To be continued… 

An Adventskranz is a traditional German piece of Christmas decoration, just in case you wondered. It's really pretty, braided of green fir twigs with red ribbons, with tiny Christmas decoration and four candles. The Advent time in Germany starts four weeks before Christmas and at each Advent Sunday one more candle is lit on the Adventskranz.   



	4. Chapter 4

Author: Artemis (Artemis1000@gmx.net)   
Disclaimer: I don't know for sure who owns Weiss Kreuz, but I don't.   
Timeline: Alternate session two.   
Rating: PG-13   
Chapter: 4/?   
Pairings: NagixOmi, in later chapters bits of SchuxYohji   
Summary: The boys meet finally in real life   
Warnings: AU. A lot. If you like Kritiker and dislike the idea of Weiss as freelance assassins you probably shouldn't read this. Maybe OOC, that depends on how the story will evolve. I think you'll notice it's m/m slash soon enough. But is there any WK romance that isn't slash?   
Author's note: If you would like your ship in the fic, then write it in your review and I'll see if I can fit them in the story. But I can't promise anything, there are some characters I just can't write IC. I don't have a beta reader, so you read this at your own risk, if you get a headache from my mistakes (native German) don't blame me :-)   
Author's note 2: If you send me feedback you'll make me very happy.   


**Love@Net**   
**_By Artemis_**   


_Chapter 4_   


Nagi was progressing stealthily on his way to the objective and half a million US dollars. 

His midnight blue eyes scanned the darkness around him with the piercing gaze of a predator as he floated soundlessly up to the third floor of the mansion. 

It'd been one of his smaller feats to find site maps and building plans of the old, maze-like manor as well as to memorize every detail of them. 

The telekinetic hovered in front of a large window and pressed his hand against the framework opposite of the handle. A click and the window swung open. 

He'd been also the one who thought of their strategy of attack – Schuldig stayed hidden outside, warned them, posed as reinforcement and most of all manipulated the minds of their enemies so that neither reinforcement nor warnings would become necessary. Only when all floors were secured he'd come inside. Farfarello had been transported by him onto the second floor, where he's supposed to cut his way through the window with his knives and make sure that no one escaped into either direction. Crawford was the only one to take the front door as this was the most dangerous entrance for them, and he'd after all his visions. On the ground floor were several offices, so he'd search there for useful files. He'd two main purposes, to kill their target and hack into his private computers, where they hoped to find the files that would allow their client to blackmail her worst enemy. 

He hurried down the hallway and peeked into several rooms on his quest to find either the master bedroom or the study. 

Suddenly Nagi stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear footsteps – clearly on his floor, where at the very most his target was supposed to roam the halls… 

Blue eyes widened in surprise and he gasped. "What the fucking hell are you doing here?!"   


The order had appeared easy. 

Go in, get some files and get out again alive. Usually the theft of a couple of files – no matter how explosive – wasn't what you would ask a group of Japan's best assassins to do. But usually manor-houses also weren't guarded by elite mercenaries in possession of a weapons stock with which you could arm the military of a small country… 

Aya would check the offices on the ground floor, Ken would search on the second floor for hidden discs, Yohji on the extensive grounds and Omi on the third floor, where a bribed maid had claimed the master's private study to be located. 

But the mission had turned into one big fiasco… 

They'd all had a very bad feeling from the moment they arrived at the manor. 

Only on their way from the gates to the front door they'd found seven dead guards, upon entering the trail of dead bodies continued. To his team mates horror Aya insisted that they finished their hit. And whatever doubts had remained he stopped with a meaningful glance at his katana. 

Now Omi was wishing with all his heart that the earth would just open and swallow him – or that he'd have had the guts to contradict Aya. A painful death by the hands of their leader and his katana couldn't have been worse than being only a few steps away from whoever was responsible for that massacre. 

Because Omi was sure that the person was still around – and that only his instincts warned him about another presence, the mystery person's steps were too silent even for his honed hearing was the only proof Omi needed that the other person was the attacker. 

No, the redhead told himself, he's an assassin of Weiß, he could handle whatever fate threw at him and he'd protect the survivors – if there were any. Embracing the reckless abandon the more suicidal part of him felt he charged down the hallway. 

And managed to stop only an arm's length away from a dark silhouette. 

"What the fucking hell are you doing here?!" 

"P… P… Prodigy? Goodness, you almost gave me a heart attack!", was the first thing that came to his mind. 

Despite his shock upon the alleged attacker turning out to be his boyfriend, the anger at having his mission interrupted and worry both about his friends and lover, Nagi smiled. It's endearing in it's own way that it's a matter of course for Omi that he wouldn't be hurt by him. "Aaa… Gomen." Nagi blushed. That wasn't what he'd wanted to say. He gave it another try and said in a voice not as emotionless as he'd wanted, "get out of the way, Weiß, and just maybe I'll let you alive." 

For a moment before Omi regained control of his facial features the hurt had been so plainly visible in Bombay's eyes that Nagi could've kicked himself. But it's better this way, their love was one that could only exist in virtual reality and their minds. 

"Well, Schwarz, if you want it that way, fine!", snapped Omi in a failed attempt at a cold voice. "Fight me!", he challenged. He knew Nagi wouldn't have the heart to harm him, just like he couldn't by any means injure Nagi. 

He wasn't playing fair! "Matte!", the dark-haired commanded, but already two darts were flying in his direction. Well, in his very rough direction as they crashed three feet away from him into a painting. 

Nagi smirked. If his tom-cat wanted to play then that's fine with him… 

He raised a hand and deflected the next couple of darts easily. While Omi was busy with preparing bow and arrow, he gathered the poisoned darts from the floor. Then he threw them one after the other back at Omi. A gust and the arrows Omi had just fetched out of his backpack flew away. 

"Hey! You bastard, that wasn't fair!" He quickly mourned his favourite arrow, then Omi charged with newfound determination and now serious anger at the psi.   


They'd been fighting for several minutes by now, both had had their moments of victory and earned a lot of bruises. 

Now that both boys had finally given vent to their anger, frustration and fears, their battle turned from serious, dogged combat to a teasing, flirting dance. 

Naoe Nagi feinted a kick and tripped the momentarily off balance Omi up. He watched how the older assassin kept himself from falling only thanks to the support of the wall behind him and leaned against the redhead. "Had enough fun?", he asked in a not unkind voice laced with fine sarcasm. 

Omi was loosing himself in the dark-blue eyes. How long he'd waited for this moment… He'd care later about the consequences of him being seen making out with the enemy when he ought to steal files for Weiß. For the moment Omi could only care about the beautiful boy in front of him and of touching him for the first time in a caress. Slowly, hesitantly he pressed his lips against the smaller boy's. 

Prodigy returned the soft, sweet kiss, melted into it. 

Both minds were thinking the same at this time. Maybe it wasn't what they're supposed to do right about now, they're sure that it wasn't, and maybe this kiss could be labelled as the most stupid thing they ever did and would ever do. But right now, they could've cared less. 

He caught his boyfriend's hands in his own as they're wandering to the zipper of his shirt and shook his head softly, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Crawford is anyway going to kill me if he finds out about us, but if I neglect my work Schuldig will join in the slaughtering-Nagi-party, after I gave him so many lectures for being irresponsible and having no sense of duty…" 

He'd to admit even in his less than sensible state that his fallen angel was right. It shouldn't be hard to convince Ken and Yohji that Nagi wasn't a bad influence on him, but if he neglected his duties while they're maybe fighting for their lives they'd for sure believe him to be a Schwarz at heart… "What's your mission? Oh, Nagi?" 

"Yeah? Omi?" He let the strange and yet so familiar name roll over his tongue like a fine wine, savouring it. 

"I love you, Nagi." 

"I love you, too, Omi." The dark-haired teen kissed him another time before he started, "we're to kill everyone and find compromising data. Crawford is searching downstairs in the offices for files our client will find useful while I'm supposed to search for them here in the private study. Once we have retrieved all data with which our client can blackmail an enemy for whom this guy here works we're to blast the house up. Nobody will find out that the people inside were already dead when the house exploded." 

"If we can't work together I think we can work at least next to each other here. We also have the order to get files and what happens afterwards to the guy here neither concerns us nor our client." 

"What kind of files?" 

"Oh you know the deal. Tax evasion, bribery, fraud, nepotism – all white-collar crimes in fact - assassinations of rivals, ex-lovers, colleagues, superiors and so on." 

"What a nice chap…!", snorted Nagi derisively. "But I can tell you that this guy is only a pawn, if you really want this mafia syndicate to be stopped then you have to kill their godfather. The guy here is actually quite pitiable, he'll be merely replaced with a second thought, I bet my telekinesis that no bigwig will even notice he's dead." 

"Thanks, I promise we'll use this piece of information wisely. Come on, Nagi, koibito, if this guy is as paranoid about his computer security as his personal one then we're in for a hell of a night…" 

But Nagi only stared flabbergasted at his boyfriend. "You mean … you suggest that we work together?" 

"It's not like we did it never before, now is it? And anyway, why not unite our workforce and know-how to get the job done in half the time?" 

"I don't see why I should hurry up. We'll be at least together as long as we're here and I fear I can't find a lifeless room to return to very compelling…" 

Omi blushed endearingly, "well, I didn't exactly thought that you would go home either…" 

Understanding flashed in midnight-blue eyes and Nagi nodded eagerly. "Come on, what are you waiting for, tom-cat?! You can switch already the computer on, I just have to go and kill someone."   


Once they'd cracked a dozen passwords, prevented the spreading of computer viruses they'd triggered with their hacking and avoided countless other traps, the hackers were finally finished two hours later. 

"You've got your copies, ne?", asked Omi distractedly while he counted his own cd-rom. They'd just copied the complete data of all computers and discs they could find in the study onto a bunch of cd-rom, which took less time than sending them twice per e-mail. 

"Yeah, it's all here." Nagi led the way, somewhere down the hallway had to be a staircase leading downstairs. "Now what?" 

"Aaa, I thought you had a plan." 

"Let's go downstairs and find out how far our team mates are. My team won't mind if you drive with us and our car is big enough." 

"I won't go to your headquarters, Crawford is creepy, Schuldig and Farfarello too. I'm sure the maniac will try to kill me or suck my blood out or something." 

"And I surely won't go to your place! Your people are even more freaky than mine. I mean, really, you can't tell me that this guy wielding a katana is still sane! He has to or he wouldn't be voluntarily fighting Crawford, that proves that he's a lunatic. And once I've had a talk with them my folks will be civil, I'll make sure they are. Hence we're going to my place!" 

They're still arguing as they took a careful peak into the living room on the second floor, from where sounds could be heard. 

The elegant living room had been turned into a messy battlefield from two hours of fighting. And what a fight… 

Farfarello was brandishing a gleaming long butcher's knife at Ken, who's wielding one of Farf's knives that he'd picked up upon loosing his weapon somewhere in the remnants of the coffee-table. Both boys gave each other murderous looks while they're exchanging insults. 

Aya and Crawford were making do with an old-fashioned fist fight that looked like they wanted to play Rambo but had never taken boxing lessons – Omi thought it to be funny, Nagi recognized the clumsiness as exhaustion. 

But the best entertainment yet were Yohji and Schuldig. Rather than battling like their team mates they're having a quite bloody make out session. 

"*Still*…?! Won't they *ever* stop fighting!", a thoroughly disgruntled Omi exclaimed. 

"Highly unlikely", prophesied Nagi. The telekinetic smirked as Schuldig remembered that they're supposed to be fighting and hit Balinese's head with a flowerpot. "Kinky, you never told me that Kudoh is into masochism", he quipped. 

"Why don't you think of a plan how we can get out of here without being lynched instead of making stupid comments nobody really wants to hear, ne?", snapped Omi frowning. 

"Gomen", the dark-haired boy relented. He called through the half-opened door, "guys, Omi and me will call it a day now! We're going to leave the discs in our cars, see you tomorrow!" He closed the door, turned back to Omi and smiled triumphantly. "See, that's easy, wasn't it?" 

Omi rolled his eyes and followed Nagi downstairs. "Tell me, Prodigy, how shall we get back into the city when neither of us can drive?" 

Nagi gave his boyfriend another "duh" look. "With telekinesis, of course!", he said as if that was the most natural and obvious thing of the world. He stepped eagerly over the threshold and grabbed Omi's left hand. "You can trust me, Omi, I won't let you fall." 

Omi gulped hard and nodded his head once. Excitement, wonder and fear were battling inside the young man as they took off skywards.   


Light footsteps resounded through the quiet flower shop as four feet rushed from the owner's apartment down the stairs. 

Omi stumbled into the shop and would have tripped over a bucket full of water standing directly in his way if it hadn't been for the boy right behind him. "Hey thanks, you have quite good reflexes. And you're sure you have to leave already?" 

"Schuldig said, I quote: "if you lazy little pest aren't home for Crawford's fucking business lunch you're grounded for the rest of eternity". That means as much as, "I do understand that you'll rather spend the day with your boyfriend than half a dozen of boring chatterboxes, but then you'll find out if I'm still sexy without head"." 

Bombay blinked. "That translation doesn't makes much sense." 

"Don't worry, I know Schu, he's never grounded me for longer than a week and I did worse stuff than to miss a promotion lunch. For example when I burned the school down because I got an unfair note, now *that* was a reason to ground me for life…" 

Omi snickered, his eyes dancing with merriment that was for once reflected in Nagi's darker ones. But he fell silent very quickly, he didn't needed to turn around to see the baleful looks they got from his colleagues. He admired Nagi's ability to ignore his fellow assassins with such superior grace, he just wasn't capable of it. "Uh…" 

Nagi had finally had enough. As his eyes burned with a lethal rage he approached Aya, the only one who glared at Omi as fiercely as himself. He's used to hate and rejection, the glares of enemies didn't bothered him. It did bothered him very much if someone hurt a person he cared for with such behaviour. "I would like some flowers, Fujimiya-san." 

A twitching in Aya's jaw was the only sign of his anger, then he'd himself back under control. He'd treat the Schwarz puppy just as polite as any other paying customer, Aya was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing that he'd gotten a rise out of him. "Of course. Which kind and how many would you like, sir? We got just today new tulips and climbing roses of excellent quality." 

"I'll take right away with me that gift basket over there, a small bouquet yellow roses, ten daffodils … and all the old flowers you have." As Nagi saw the flabbergasted look Omi gave him he explained, "Farfie loves to rip the petals off and if I give him new flowers Schuldig or Crawford take them away from him. Please deliver in the afternoon or evening following orders: each ten tulips of all the colours you have on stock, ten bouquets to place on sideboards, tables, you get the idea, and two white orchids. And yes, I *will* pay you right away." 

Aya's eyes narrowed furthermore. He fed the prices into the cash register, "14.374 yen." 

He threw 15.000 yen onto the counter and scribbled onto the backside of a Kitty in the House business card an address in Tokyo's uptown and three phone numbers. "Omi, this is my address, feel free to drop in, unless we're on a hit it's always someone home. But this person is likely to be Farfie, so you better have your darts ready, if you bribe him with flowers or knives he's peaceful. Look, this are our phone number at the mansion, my cell phone and the emergency number, but you should call it really only if there's an emergency because this is Crawford's and you can't be sure with him how he'll react." 

"Got it." Omi wrote their private and his cell phone number onto another business card. "Here you are. We don't have anything as fancy as an emergency cell phone, but you anyway can always get in touch with me by means of telepathy. I would love it if you could maybe drop in sometimes, if the unlikely case happens that I'm not here on an afternoon or weekend then I'm only delivering and will be back shortly." 

"Great, I'll see you soon then." Nagi threw over his shoulder a glance at the other Weiß members, "and don't bother with an attack, our security includes watchdogs, cameras, traps and a very bloodthirsty madman." 

Omi gazed lovingly into his boyfriend's midnight-blue eyes as he kissed him goodbye. He'd to admit that he's afraid of letting go of Nagi. Their lives were so dangerous, you could never say if they would wake up again in the morning when they went to bed… maybe he'd never see Nagi again, maybe his friends would manage to talk their relationship out of him… 

"Don't rack your brains, I'll be around if you need me." He cocked his dark head, listening to a voice that only he could hear for a few moments, then he added, "and Schwarz, too." Nagi granted himself another peck on the lips, then he strode to the door before he could change his mind. "See you, Omi, I love you." 

"I love you too, Nagi!", Omi called after the slim figure. 

Suddenly the young redhead noticed that he's now all by himself, with three friends who would maybe execute him for treason and maybe only give him a lecture… The dread he felt as he turned around was so powerful that all Omi could do was not to run to the bathroom and throw breakfast up. 

Yohji was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. With a friendly smile he wandered over to Omi, whom he felt needed the reassurance of his presence. "He loves you, Omi-kun – you have no idea how lucky you are." 

"You really think so, Yohji-kun?" 

"Yes, I do. I mean, it's really obvious how much he cares for you, I wish I'd have someone like that." 

"Trust me, you don't want the difficulties of having a Schwarz boyfriend. Now, are you ready yet for my slaughtering?", he asked in the direction of Aya and Ken, who still appeared to be in shock. 

"You shouldn't be trusting him, Omi, he's playing with you." 

A weak, bitter chuckle. "Now who is the telepath here, Aya? Really, I know Nagi already for such a long time, if he only wanted to use me he would've done something already or given up. Sure, we assisted each other often, but Nagi helped me at least as often with Weiß missions as I helped him with Schwarz missions. And no, he couldn't have got an advantage out of that as I told him only what he needed to know to help me hacking." 

"How long do you… are you lovers?", Ken asked in a voice that said clearly that he wasn't sure whether he really wanted to know. 

"I can understand you, really, if I was in your place I would most likely react the same way. Lemme think… it's sometime in summer, June… July! It was July when we met the first time away from the battlefield and we befriended immediately, by the time we found out who the other was we were already best friends. We're together since late August." He'd rather not tell them that he'd had a crush on Nagi since the first time he saw him… 

"Leave the chibi in peace, I'm sure he didn't got much sleep last night and is tired, he anyway won't tell you anything right now", grinned Yohji and ushered Omi to a storage room. 

But before they could escape Aya's wrath realization dawned on Weiß' leader. "You knew! You knew all the time about it! And don't you dare lying to me, Kudoh Yohji!" 

"Uh… yes, I knew about it. But not everything. I read already last summer, a few days after Omi befriended Nagi, his e-mails secretly and found his correspondence with a Prodigy. They talked about their missions, so I knew that Prodigy was also an assassin and it's clear to me that they would become a couple sooner or later. At Omi's birthday we talked and he gave me more hints, I was with him as he found Nagi's gift. But that's about all I knew." 

"Still, you could've warned us! Or if you didn't wanted to tell us anything, then at least you could've talked the Schwarz brat out of Omi! I don't mind that he likes boys, I never had any problem with that, but I have a big problem with him liking an enemy, a Schwarz member!", shouted Aya. 

"Nagi was right, we should have kept it secret. But I didn't wanted to hide Nagi from you any longer. I didn't enjoyed the secrecy and lying, Aya, it hurt me every time. But I was afraid that you would hate me and, just like you said, talk me out of being with Nagi. By now our relationship has a solid basis and mastered many crises, we resurfaced every time stronger, the only thing I still had to fear was that you'd kill me – and believe it or not, but I can hold my own in a fight with you. I want you to know that I love Nagi and won't break up with him." 

"What about Schwarz? Do you think they'll forgive him as easily as we you?!", Aya demanded to know. "You might just have signed your oh so beloved boyfriend's death-warrant!" 

"I feared that also, but by now we can be sure that they know about us, Schuldig at the very least, and I don't see why they should suddenly decide to kill Nagi for it. He's absolutely loyal to Schwarz, our love doesn't weakens him. In the contrary, the cooperation of Weiß and Schwarz helped both of our groups, we're more efficient since we support the other. For example last night, while you're fighting, we're sharing the workload. I wouldn't have managed it on my own and none of you understands anything about computers, so we'd have failed without Nagi." 

"If you get him to be more civil I don't see why I should mind", shrugged Ken. "And if this ends our constantly life-endangering rivalry with Schwarz, then why not? I mean, we're now all self-employed, we've to earn our own money and find our own allies, we need all the friends we can get…" 

"Thank you very much indeed, Ken-kun! Aya? Please? I don't expect you to become friends with Nagi, but it would be nice if we could finally come out into the open without having to fear for our safety. I'll make sure that he behaves himself." 

"We can't replace you and you are imperative to the success of all Weiß missions, hence I have no choice but to take up with your choice in men. But don't believe that I approve of him." 

"I won't, arigatou, Aya-kun!"   


"I just hope I'll come out of this again alive", muttered Omi under his breath as he sounded the bell. 

The European-style Schwarz mansion loomed in the twilight dangerously over it's heavy iron gates and the boy standing in front of it. 

Through the intercom system came the voice of a young woman, "who's there?" 

Strange. Maybe the girlfriend of a Schwarz member, or a new psychic? "Am I right here at Mister Crawford's, Schwarz mansion? I'm bringing you a delivery from Kitty in the House." 

A cackle and the voice turned out to be really the one of a young man. "Ah, Nagi's kitten!" 

"Farf, if you break the intercom again, I swear you, I'll put you back into the straightjacket, re-socialisation or not!", warned Schuldig and opened the gates. "Weiß, you can come now slowly to the house, but don't, by no means, leave the path or you'll blast the whole block!" 

"Thank you so very much for the warning, that makes me feel so much better", Omi murmured and pushed his blue scooter down the marvel path to the mansion's front porch. He'd have preferred to leave it outside as a means of escape, but there were just too many flowers to carry them all the way. 

The doors opened seemingly by itself just as Omi parked the scooter, two dozens of safely secured boxes were suddenly hovering in the air and floating through the door. 

"Thanks, Nagi, you're the best. But could you please float down here now because I feel really stupid talking to the air and would like to see you at least for a moment." 

A moment later Schuldig was leaning against the doorframe nonchalant. /Nagi asks you inside, he's still busy…/, a shrug, /doing whatever he usually does when he holes himself in his room up, no idea, he closes his mind well by now. He promised that he'll be with you in a minute or two./ 

Omi looked inquiringly at the older man. /Did something bad happen? He didn't talked to me all day and even now he sends you out and misses a perfect opportunity to boss me around…/ 

Another shrug. /He's just being his ordinary weird self. How long are you with him? A year? You should remember by now that he has such phases, sometimes he just holes himself for months up in his room and refuses to talk to anyone./ 

/Strange. I mean, sometimes Nagi didn't talked much, but if I couldn't get in touch with him for several days then I thought he's on a mission./ 

/Anyway, come inside, Crawford isn't here, I'll restrain Farfarello and Nagi won't let me hurt you./ 

/Thanks./ Omi holstered his backpack and stepped reluctantly inside. He didn't believed that he's safe here, but if Schwarz really planned nothing evil and he chickened out he'd embarrass himself – and most of all Nagi – terribly… /Where do you want me to wait for Nagi?/ 

/In the living room, naturally. At least there you're under constant surveillance, I won't have you roam the halls all by yourself./ Without waiting for an answer went Schuldig to the spacious sitting room, where he found Farf cutting his tongue in a meditative state. Unfortunately he also spat the blood out. /Farfarello, if you have to mutilate yourself, then save at least our furniture! You just ruined a perfectly fine runner! Make at least a bit up for it now and watch Bombay while I go and give Nagi hell./ 

/Can I play with the kitten?/ 

/For god's sake, no! If you do so much as to look the wrong way at Bombay Nagi will kill you, you know that. Just make sure that he doesn't wanders off, I fear he'll try to snoop around./ 

Schuldig had just climbed the first couple of steps as Nagi hurried them down. He flashed Schuldig a brilliant smile and sprinted eager to see his boyfriend again into the living room. 

Omi heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the dark figure turn around the corner. "Nagi, finally!", he exclaimed happily and kissed the younger boy. 

"Hi, tom-cat! Gomen, I didn't wanted to let you wait though I knew you're afraid, but I didn't expected you to be here so soon. Asshole Crawford predicted you would come around eight o'clock and since I idiot believed him I started already to hack for our next mission!" 

"Can I help?", Omi asked simply. 

"Won't Weiß bitch again if you help the nemesis?" 

"They don't have to find out about it. This was my last delivery and they're all going out tonight, Yohji has yet another date, Aya makes sure that Ken doesn't gets too excited when he watches football in a pub, so they won't notice at what time I come home." 

Nagi beamed, took Omi's hand and pulled him upstairs. "Let's hurry up, I want to get this stuff finished as soon as possible. Now don't get a heart attack when you see my room, I didn't found the time yet today to tidy up. You see, we had a computer lab before, but here it isn't finished, so being as courteous as Crawford is, he decided that the whole equipment would be stored away in my room for the meantime!" The door clicked shut behind the boys. 

Schuldig shook his head slowly in amazement. This wasn't the Naoe Nagi he knew - in only a year Omi had actually managed to turn the hateful boy who lived only for killing into a more or less sociable person…   


Omi winced as the step under his feet creaked shrill. 

He stayed motionlessly on the traitorous step for a moment and listened intently. He couldn't hear a sound, no sign of the guns and alarms that he'd expected to be triggered at the tiniest sound he made. In fact it looked as if nobody had heard him. Omi shrugged and continued the dangerous journey down to the ground floor. 

The redhead narrowly avoided tripping over a newspaper, then slipped on canned beer. Luckily he's able to grip on to the banisters and save himself from a fall down the five tall, steep staircase. 

He prided himself a survivor as he reached the bottom of the staircase. "Goodness, couldn't have anyone told me that the house is even more dangerous than the people inside?!", Omi grumbled and sat down on a runner. The carpeted bottom stair would've been more comfortable, but he's afraid the whole staircase would collapse and drop onto him… 

"Your accidents are regrettable, the dangers here have become such ordinary for us that we sometimes forget to warn visitors", an amused voice said from the living room that bordered directly onto the hall. 

"Jeez!" Omi jumped his surprise. And had an unfortunate collision with the banisters. "*Ouch*! Ow, ow, ow, ow!" 

Schuldig was laughing so hard that he'd difficulties not falling from the couch. "Mein Gott, das war koestlich, Du bist wie ein Elefant im Porzellanladen!", he choked out between two laughing fits. 

"At least someone is having a good time", muttered the unlucky Weiß assassin, who's rubbing the back of his head gingerly. "And I will have you know that I'm *not* clumsy like an elephant and no china was broken either!" 

"What are you doing down here, anyway? Shouldn't you be smooching with Nagi?" 

"I'm not going to spy, if that's what you're afraid of. You can trust me that I'd have made a bit less noise if that'd been my intention, I learned at least a couple of things in so many years with Weiß. I woke up thirsty, the bottles in Nagi's room were all empty, so I thought I'd fetch myself a glass of mineral water from the kitchen." The redhead winced as various bruises made themselves known, "of course, if I'd known that your house is highly dangerous I'd have drunken tap water." 

"You can stay in the living room, I'll rather fetch you that water myself before you break your neck." Schuldig waited in the arch connecting sitting room and hall until Omi had sat down in an armchair, then he hurried to the kitchen. 

Omi nursed his bruises and swellings, happy that he's finally safe. He'd rather face off with sneaky Schuldig than with a sneaky staircase… A grateful smile brightened Omi's face as he was offered a glass of fizzing, cool water. "Arigatou, Schuldig. I can't believe that you guys have survived here a single day, let alone months!" 

"The real problem isn't the house, it's that nobody feels responsible for tidying up. If Crawford has a serious injury, then he calls professional cleaners, but that happens very rarely. There are just some rules that you have to follow here: always switch the lights on, even during the day some parts of the house like the staircase are dark". Don't run. Pay attention to what you're going to step onto next, it can be just as well mouldy food as important files or our trained dogs…!" 

"I'll keep that in mind next time", said Omi with a smile. 

The young computer expert marvelled at the feelings having a friendly chat with Schuldig caused, or rather not caused. He'd expected to feel caged, at the very least awkward, around Nagi's team mates and if it hadn't been for the flower delivery he wouldn't have come anywhere near the mansion. But the comfortable, friendly atmosphere reminded him of talks he'd had with Ken and Yohji if they couldn't sleep. The only things missing now were Yohji quipping, "no affront, but I would rather be spending a sleepless night with a beautiful woman than with you", and Aya suddenly charging into the room, demanding what the heck they were thinking… 

Aya… A frown darkened Bombay's features again. If Aya ever found out about this, then he should better be finished with making this arrangements for his own funeral that Nagi had suggested one night after too much coffee and sugar, too little sleep… 

"Don't worry, Abyssinian won't find out if you don't tell him." Schuldig sipped carefully at his steaming hot coffee. He's not quite sure how to breach the subject, but he knew that they'd to talk about it. He's painfully aware of the fact that this was a way better occasion than at breakfast, when Crawford would be moaning that he was an oracle, no coffee boy, Farfarello practicing dismemberment on his Barmbrack, Nagi bugging them into letting him stay at home cause he'd have to write a test his teachers think is imperative and he thinks isn't worth studying for, Omi probably being in a hurry to get away from the enemy and himself having a mental breakdown… 

"Schuldig? Are you okay?" 

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. Frankly speaking, I'm very worried for Nagi. He downright savours it to irritate Abyssinian and sooner or later your leader will snap – which will start a chain of reactions I want to avoid by all costs. I don't believe you have experienced yet the full extent of Nagi's powers and I don't have the right to fill you in, but it won't be pleasant." 

"I fear I don't understand. No ordinary person is dangerous for a psychic, right, and Aya can handle himself?" 

"Abyssinian is no danger for Nagi, but he's a danger for you. You have to understand that psychics tend to be labile, if someone crosses the boundaries Nagi will react much more extreme than most people would." 

Omi realized that this were all the informations Schuldig was going to give him. "I take it that you're implying that Nagi will snap if he thinks he's to protect me. And that he can be a danger to himself with that." 

Schuldig stayed silent and waited for the realization to hit the boy. 

Seeing that his wild guess was met with silent agreement, Omi paled. "He'll try to kill Aya and everything that happens then will make it worse. If he manages to kill Aya I'll be angry with him, which makes him even more rampant – and ends with Weiß avenging Aya successfully, making Schwarz angry, or dying trying. If Aya kills him, Schwarz will take revenge and I've honestly no clue which side I would chose." 

"Very good, you'd have made a fine Schwarz member", Schuldig admitted grudgingly. "If you care only a little bit for Nagi then you'll make sure that he keeps control. He sees you now as his, if someone tries to take you away from him the consequences won't be pretty." 

"Maybe if I talk to him about it? Because no matter how much Aya tries to talk Nagi out of me, he won't manage it. And the others are fine with it. I mean, Yohji – our resident playboy of all people! – helped us. He could've gone to Aya when he figured it out, but he accepted and helped us as if it's a matter of course. I'm sure Ken doesn't minds either." 

"Oh, and unless you have a hidden fondness for homophobe flambé, you better calm him down in time. Nagi doesn't has any qualms about keeping the pretences up, unlike you he can just kill whoever annoys him." 

Omi winced, "that's becoming more difficult than I thought. I never had any idea that Nagi is such a time-bomb." 

/Do you want to back out, Bombay, has the price become too high? Because now you still can, your friends will forgive you quickly and Nagi will move on once he's licked his wounds, but soon it's going to be too late to change your mind./ He asked this on purpose telepathically, Schuldig wanted Omi to remember that he's talking here to a creature from whom he could hide nothing, he'd know the truth by all means. 

/Never!/, Omi answered the same way with fierce determination in his mental voice. /So maybe the price is a little bit higher, so maybe Nagi is more of a time-bomb than I expected him to. But I knew from the beginning that he's dangerous, I knew that he never had any problem with killing people, maybe even enjoyed it, and I still fell in love with him, I still didn't hesitated to stand to him. That won't change, not now, not ever, I love Nagi!/ 

/You'll be good for Nagi/, Schuldig said simply. 

Omi wondered dazedly, had he just really gotten Schuldig's blessings? In a daze he said, "arigatou, I do really appreciate your confidence." 

/Maybe later you will, once everything has sunk in. Why don't you go back to bed now? I'm sure Nagi is missing you already. And this time, please switch the lights on, I don't exactly feel like scraping your remains off the carpet." 

A sheepish smile. "Arigatou. Good night, Schuldig." 

"Good night, Omi."   


"*Finally*, I was beginning to think you'd fallen into the loo!", quipped Nagi. 

The redhead graced his boyfriend with an irritated glare. "Ha-ha-ha! Very funny, Prodigy!" 

But Nagi didn't stopped his teasing. "Aw, now you're sounding like Crawford!" 

Omi effectively shut the annoying teeny with a kiss up and crawled under the covers, facing away from Nagi. He counted silently to ten and with clockwork precision a feather started tickling his nose. "Gah, stop it, Nagi, that tickles!", he laughed. 

Nagi was laying prone on the bed with his eyes closed and a gentle smile on his lips, the epitome of angelic innocence. 

But Omi wasn't fooled for a single second. He snatched the feather out of the air and stuck it into the younger boy's from sleep tousled black hair, "I believe that's yours, koi." 

"You're no fun!" 

"Did anyone ever told you how gorgeous you are when you pout?" 

"You aren't playing fair, Omi." 

"Who said anything about fairness?", dead-panned Omi.   


Breakfast was, to put it mildly, a very tense affair. 

Omi would have never thought of having breakfast with Schwarz if it hadn't been for his stomach rumbling violently and them breakfasting in the living room, which he could anyway hardly evade on his way out. 

As things were, he's ready to run to the next psychiatric clinic and ask for a straightjacket the moment he entered the living room. 

Schuldig picked this thought up and answered in his mind, /if you ask nicely enough I'm confident Farfie will lend you his./ 

/It isn't nice to read people's minds!/ 

/Then shield it/, was Schuldig's cool answer to the accusation. 

The younger redhead was distracted from his silent conversation by his shoulder being shaken. As no hand was attached to whatever shook it he came dimly to the conclusion that it'd to be Nagi. 

"Hello? You okay, Omi?" 

Indeed Nagi. He gave his boyfriend a sheepish smile. "A, Schuldig was teasing me and I didn't heard you." 

Nagi channelled a bit of energy to smack Schuldig lightly over the back of his head. "Leave Omi in peace, do you hear me? Get your own kitten to play with if you want one so badly. Omi is mine." He took the reluctant boy's hand and dragged him to a couch, giving him here and there a telekinetic nudge and pointedly ignoring how uncomfortable he was. He's quite aware that breakfast in the Schwarz mansion was a strange thing, but sooner or later Omi would just have to get used to it. 

"We really don't have to… I can eat when I come home…", stuttered Omi nervously. But the Weiß assassin thought that his nervousness was quite justified. You didn't had often breakfast with four killers who's declared goal it was to kill you as slowly and painfully as possible… 

"Oh calm down already, my friends aren't going to hurt you unless you provoke them." 

Omi looked all but convinced. But what could he do…? "Okay. Will you pass me the bread basket please, Nagi?" 

Farfarello looked up from cutting a man-shaped loaf of bread and told Omi in a solemn voice, "cutting bread hurts god." 

"Arigatou, Farfarello-kun, I'll remember that", Omi said with a friendly smile. "Crawford-san, could you please hand me the coffee pot?" After all attack was said to be the best defence… 

Everyone winced. This was ought to start another rant… 

"I'm not a coffee boy, kid. Does anyone of you has an idea what a bad headache you have after a vision? I need each week a family-sized package of painkillers, you could at least show some appreciation for my skills." 

Bombay blinked several times, not without a comical character. "Huh?" 

Nagi shrugged and explained smirking, "don't worry, he's always strange in the morning, especially about coffee. Just give it a few days and you'll be used to it." He made himself a large sandwich, layers buttered rye bread and cheese by turns, then he cut it over and laid half of the sandwich onto Crawford's board, taking the second bowl cornflakes he'd prepared. 

"I highly doubt that…!" 

to be continued…   



End file.
